Northampton boy killed in pedestrian accident 'always made you smile'; Gage was 4

Gage Sramek, 4, of Northampton was killed Dec. 2 when he was struck by a vehicle… (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO )

December 03, 2012|By Nicole Radzievich", Of The Morning Call

On Monday, the Facebook profile photos of several people from Northampton became the snapshot of a little boy with big blue eyes and blond hair.

It was the face of Gage Sramek, 4, a kid from Stewart Street neighbors were used to seeing riding his scooter and poking his head in their front doors.

He died Sunday after being hit by a vehicle about a block from his home, 23 days before Christmas.

The Lehigh County coroner's office ruled Gage's death an accident. Northampton police Chief Ronald Morey said there was only one vehicle involved in the accident and the motorist was not hurt. He described her as in her 60s but declined to name her.

No charges have been filed, and the matter is under investigation, he said.

It happened about 5:10 p.m. Jared Siegfried, brother of Gage's mother, Rachael, said he spoke with the boy about an hour before the accident. Siegfried said kids were playing in a parking lot just down the street from their house. Siegfried said he'd planned to return to take the kids to McDonald's.

Siegfried was watching TV at his home in Catasauqua when he received the call from his brother-in-law telling him what had happened.

Gage had been hit at Vienna and Czapp streets, a crossroads lined with homes on three sides and a parking lot on the other. The intersection is a block from the two-story house where Gage lived with a family that includes his brother, 6-year-old Damon, and sister, Breanna, 14, in the southwest corner of the borough.

By the time Siegfried arrived at the intersection and sneaked past firefighters, Gage had been taken to a hospital.

He was pronounced dead 45 minutes later at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg, according to a release from the Lehigh County coroner's office.

Early Monday afternoon, Siegfried stood outside the family's home and spoke with a neighbor about Gage. Inside, children huddled around a TV and played video games in silence.

Siegfried's eyes were swollen beneath a pair of wrap-around sunglasses. Neighbors and friends had been visiting the family until about 5 a.m.

More than 10 kids live in the neighborhood, Siegfried said, and Gage was popular — even among the adults. He often poked his head into neighbors' doorways and said hello or asked for snacks.

Cody Phillips, another uncle, remembered how the boy loved his scooter, Sponge Bob — or "Bob-Bob," as Gage called him — and the Disney cartoon "Cars."

Afterward, family members changed their Facebook profile photos to pictures of Gage, who had blue eyes and blond hair and made silly faces into the camera in some of the photos.

"He will never be forgotten," said one post on the Facebook page of Gage's father, Scott Sramek.

"Oh God Scott I'm trying to stop crying," another said.

Friends and family crafted a memorial at the intersection. Hugging the stop sign on Vienna Street was a foot-high Christmas tree, a heap of flowers and candles, an Elmo toy in mirrored sunglasses, stuffed bears, toy cars and candy.

At the memorial, someone had tied a large Sponge Bob pillow to a telephone pole with a blue blanket covered in trucks.

It was his favorite, Phillips explained.

"You'd fall in love with him," said Phillips, who lives in the house with Gage's family.

The uncles, who arrived at the crossroads at the same time, had heard conflicting stories about what had occurred. The boy's brother, Damon, had been nearby when it happened.

"He thought it was his fault," Phillips said.

Though Siegfried couldn't remember any other accidents in the neighborhood, there are no posted speed limits or "Watch Children" signs. Cars often speed through and fail to heed stop signs.